Last year, Beebs decided to forego a birthday party for a weekend getaway to visit my parents in Utah. The trip had some struggles, but we ended up having a great time (once we got there!) and Beebs decided she wanted this to be her birthday tradition. Throughout the year she did waver a bit, sometimes wondering if maybe she wanted a big party with friends instead, but as the time drew nearer, she decided that she really did want another trip to Nana & Papa's to celebrate turning 6. And this time, Shark Bait came along.

I got Shark Bait a new mode of transportation for the trip. Typically I use an Ergo carrier for him, but Ergos are such a pain to take on and off multiple times as is necessary when traveling. He seemed to really like his new ride and I'm kicking myself for not having gotten a ring sling 4 children ago.

After last year's debacle, Allegiant wised up and changed their flight times from Mesa to Provo, allowing the fog to clear before trying to send their planes to land in Utah. This meant that Beebs was able to attend most of her day of school before we left. I picked her up a little bit before the end of her school day and we made the drive across town. We grabbed something to eat at the airport while we waited, with Beebs decked out in pretty much head to toe jaguar print. It's her signature look. 

The plane ride was uneventful, THANK GOODNESS, and both Beebs and Shark Bait did great. I love that I have such great little travelers. I don't love that Beebs does "duck face" in pictures... I did not teach her that!

Once our plane landed, we hurried to my parents house where we changed into church clothes then headed to the Provo City Center Temple open house. It worked out perfectly that the open house started the weekend we were in Utah, and we were able to get tickets for the first day. I love any chance to take my children to see the outside of a temple... it is so so wonderful when I can take them to tour the inside! It is a beautiful temple and I am so grateful that we were able to tour (and touch!) it. 

Saturday we drove up to Salt Lake to spend the day at the zoo and eat at Red Iguana. It was cold, but so much fun. Beebs wore two coats... one the right way, and one the wrong way, with her new jaguar backpack in between the layers. She managed to stay warm enough and had so much fun visiting all her favourite Hogle Zoo animals. 

After visiting Uncle Matt-Stache at his work, Aunt T took us to visit her library. She introduced Beebs to all of her coworkers and then taught Beebs how to work Hans Gruber, the huge book sorting machine. Beebs thought that was the best thing ever. It ended up being a highlight of the trip for her. She also loved seeing the Star Wars and Mr. Potato Head displays in the childrens department. Aunt T and Uncle Matt-Stache have some of the coolest jobs around. 

We ended Saturday with a trip to the cupcake store, relaxing at my parents house and playing in the snow. 

Sunday was for church, lounging, cards and playing with Uncle Cooper's snake.

Monday it was time to fly home. Beebs was worn out from celebrating all weekend long. She slept in nice and late while Shark Bait and I attempted to pack all our stuff into a bag that would fit under the seat. That didn't work out so well, so we ended up borrowing a duffle bag from my mum and checking a bag to bring home all our Utah goodies. We said goodbye to the mountains, then to my family and with that, we were headed back to Arizona. After a stop at Ikea to buy new dining room chairs, we made the drive home, back to Bruce, Sunshine and Man Cub who were excited to see us. 

Touch The Temple

In June, I was in charge of teaching Sharing Time, and the theme for the month was "Priesthood Ordinances and Temple Work Bless My Family". It was such a fun month to teach and one of the weeks, I felt impressed to share a talk I had recently read by President Monson called "Blessings of the Temple". In the talk, President Monson shared the story of a man who took his granddaughter on a special birthday date, but instead of taking her to the zoo or the movies, he took her to the temple where he had her touch the walls and the doors of the temple. President Monson said "She had touched the temple, and the temple had touched her. As we touch the temple and love the temple, our lives will reflect our faith. As we go to the holy house, as we remember the covenants we make therein, we will be able to bear every trial and overcome each temptation. The temple provides purpose for our lives. It brings peace to our souls—not the peace provided by men but the peace promised by the Son of God when He said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”"

At the end of the lesson, I challenged our Primary children to find a time to touch a temple over the summer and then to tell me about it, and many of them have. The girls and I, knowing that we were heading to Utah where temples are everywhere to be found, made a personal goal to touch five temples on our trip. Surprisingly, this turned out to be much more difficult than I had imagined! Several of the temples we stopped by were closed for cleaning, meaning the gates were locked and we were unable to get close enough to touch them. But we still managed to accomplish our goal (though we did have to touch three temples on our drive home to make it happen!)

We started by touching the Twin Falls, Idaho with my best friend KJ and her family. (An entire post about that awesome visit coming soon!)

We then tried to touch the Provo temple (closed!), the Brigham City temple (closed!) and the Salt Lake temple (closed!). We also wanted to touch the Payson temple, but it wasn't completed yet, making that a no go as well.

Towards the end of our trip we made it to the Logan temple and were very excited to finally find a temple with open grounds. We were able to get up to the temple so the wee ones could touch it and admire the beautiful stone and the gorgeous flowers. I could not get enough of the breathtaking view of Cache Valley. Cache Valley might just be my dream home location.

On our drive home from Provo, we managed to touch our final three temples. It was the first day the Provo temple was opened after it's yearly cleaning, so we stopped there first, on our way out of town. Then we hit St George and Las Vegas. Bruce wasn't too keen on that final stop as he was anxious to get home, but I convinced him we needed to do it and the girls were beyond ecstatic when we pulled up and they realized where we were. Even Man Cub had caught on to what we were doing and said "temple", then ran up to touch it's doors.

We are all loving this new tradition of "collecting" temples and we are excited to add several new temples to our list in the coming months. Touching the temple is helping our children to recognize the importance of these sacred buildings, especially when we go out of our way to visit them. They feel the Spirit  as they touch the walls and they are excited to seek out other temples to touch. Touching the temple is certainly touching our lives, and this is only the beginning!